Wesley Woodyard #59 congratulates Elvis Dumervil #92 of the Denver Broncos after Dumervil sacked JaMarcus Russell of the Oakland Raiders at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on September 27, 2009 in Oakland, California.

Q: Broncos fans have known that Elvis Dumervil could pressure the passer from a three-point stance, and we are happy to see he can do so from a two-point stance as well. Having not seen a televised game up here in the Pacific Northwest, my question is, what kind of role is Dumervil playing when not racing at the quarterback from the edge? Is he effectively fulfilling the other responsibilities of an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense?

A: Matthew, one of the things those who coach the 3-4 defense will tell you is the biggest difficulty in transitioning players into it is players rarely play those positions in college football.

With so many spread offenses in college football now defenders are routinely smaller players up front and on the inside, they tend to run around blocks rather than facing up and taking them on and shedding to make a play. And that really leaves the NFL trying to adapt players to spots like nose tackle, outside linebacker and inside linebacker.

So what Dumervil is facing is pretty common in all types of the 3-4, including the one the Broncos are playing, which does have plenty of 4-3 principles from time to time as well.

But for the Broncos, that means they don’t often ask Dumervil to play to a weakness, or any other defender for that matter. He is best as an upfield player, moving forward, so that is what they are asking him to do the majority of the time.

He will get down in a three-point stance and rush in some of their pass-rush packages on long-yardage situations and play standing up on the outside as well.

When he does drop into coverage it’s not a man-to-man situation where he’s checking the tight end all the way across the field. For the most part he’s dropping to a specific spot to get into the passing lane and playing the ball if it comes into his area.

So his challenge there is to really get to the right depth out of a backpedal.

He works hard on things, though, and has put in the time so he’s done that pretty well when they’ve asked him to. But overall they like him in the rush as much as you do, so that’s what he does most of the time and why he has six sacks to lead the team.

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